Palestinians brace for the worst ahead of Trump’s ‘peace plan’
Yumna Patel on January 27, 2020
The anticipation can be felt across the country as
Palestinians and Israelis alike wait, some with hope and many with dread, for
US President Donald Trump to reveal his “peace plan” for the region on Tuesday.
While the details of the long-awaited “Deal of the Century” have largely
been left up to speculation, it is largely understood that the deal will be
heavily pro-Israel.
While Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu described the US proposal as a
once in a lifetime “opportunity” that Israel “cannot miss,” the impending
release of the plan has sparked impassioned reactions by Palestinians.
Reports surfaced on Monday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
had refused a phone call with
Trump, ahead of Trump’s meetings with
Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz on Tuesday.
The move was hailed by Palestinians across social media, who praised
Abbas for sticking to his ongoing boycott of the Trump administration.
Palestinian leaders threatened to withdraw
from the Oslo Accords, arguing that the Israeli acceptance of
the deal — which allegedly supports Israel’s annexation of all West Bank
settlements and the Jordan Valley — would make the 1994 deal null and void.
The “death of the two-state solution” could be seen across Palestinian
media, with the Prime Minister Mahmoud Shtayyeh saying “it
is nothing but a plan to finish off the Palestinian cause.”
Some leaders, like chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, floated the
idea of a One-State solution, saying “it is an attempt to destroy the two
states [solution]. But it will open the doors of ‘one person one vote’
from the river Jordan to the Mediterranean.”
Ashraf al-Ajrami, the former minister of prisoner
affairs for the PA defended Abbas’s refusal to speak to Trump on i24 News
today. “This is an American-Israeli plan,” al-Ajrami said. It is intended to
help Netanyahu win reelection and “help Donald Trump maybe to be elected or to
use this opportunity maybe before he will fall” to help Israel.
The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS)
movement called for intensifying boycott campaigns across the globe in response
to the US plan.
“The plan Trump hatched with Israel’s far-right
government aims to cement Israel’s apartheid rule over the Palestinian people,”
the group said. “It is the final nail in the coffin of the moribund ‘peace
process’, making #BDS the most effective response.”
On the ground, Palestinians across cities,
villages and refugee camps in the occupied territory braced themselves for
massive protests on Tuesday called for and supported by Palestinian political
factions across the spectrum.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniya warned of a new wave of
violence in reaction to the plan, saying it could usher in a “new phase” in the
Palestinian struggle against Israel’s occupation.
The protests are expected to take on a life of
their own, with locals predicting they could last into the coming weeks and
months, much like the protests following Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as
Israel’s capital in 2017.
Israeli media reported that the army was “preparing” for unrest by
deploying extra troops across the West Bank in anticipation of Tuesday’s
protests.
What to expect
Over the course of the past year, the release of
Trump’s plan was delayed several times, mostly due to the tumultuous election
cycle in Israel. The country will have its third election in a year on March 2.
With each delay came new leaks, mostly from Israeli
media and officials, speculating as to the
content of the plan.
The US is expected to take a two-pronged approach
to the plan — one economic, and one political. The economic part of the deal
was unveiled in June, and promised US investments upwards of $50 billion in the
Palestinian territories and neighboring Arab states over the course of 10
years.
The reception of the plan was lackluster, as many regional leaders hesitated to celebrate
the promise of economic prosperity for Palestinians without seeing what
political solutions the US had in store for them.
The culmination of months’ worth of leaks is a
picture of a plan that is undoubtedly pro-Israel, conceding to the demands of
the right-wing Israeli government without hesitation.
It is expected that the plan will accept Israel’s
annexation of the Jordan valley and of hundreds of settlements across the West
Bank — a move that has been widely condemned by the international community at
large.
Some reports on Monday said that Trump would be
unveiling maps showing the new borders of Israel, and a proposed
“demilitarized” Palestinian state– a “state” whose borders would still be
controlled by Israel.
The plan is expected to include a proposed bridge
or tunnel connecting Gaza and the West Bank, and Israel’s potential withdrawal
from parts of occupied East Jerusalem.
Yumna Patel
Yumna Patel is the Palestine correspondent for
Mondoweiss.
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